June, is it so horrible to consider selling?” Nan asked. Her soft voice broke the escalating tension. “You and Daddy have worked hard all your lives. You never spend a penny on yourselves and I can’t remember when you’ve ever taken a vacation. Every dime you earn you put right back into this place. If you sell Sweetgrass, you’ll finally have a chance to take it easy. Really, Mama, won’t you have enough to worry about now just with Daddy? Why do you want to worry about trying to hang on to all this land, too? Let it go. Enjoy life a little.”
Mama June looked into her daughter’s large blue eyes, so much like her own, and felt her resolve slip. The thought of letting go of the burdens of Sweetgrass, of simply moving on to someplace easier, of not pinching pennies and worrying about money, was seductive.
Yet the guilt of letting go of the family land that Preston loved more than anything else weighed heavily on her mind.
“Won’t you miss Sweetgrass if it’s sold?” Morgan asked Nan.
Nan’s expression shifted as a soft smile reluctantly eased across her face. “Yes, sure,” she conceded. “I guess I will.”
“We all will,” Adele interjected, casting an impatient glance at her niece. “That’s not the point. We mustn’t slip into nostalgia or we’ll never be able to deal with what’s on our plate today. Besides,” she said as an aside to Morgan, “I thought you made your opinion perfectly clear years ago when you left. I believe it had something to do with dynamite and sending the whole place to hell.”
“He was angry,” Mama June quickly said. Making excuses for Morgan came readily to her.
“That was more about what was between me and my father than about the land,” he replied, the first hint of steel entering in his voice. “And to that point, this decision is between my mother and my father.”
He paused, meeting the challenge in Hank’s glare. Then, spreading his palms against the table, he said in a controlled voice that brooked no further discussion, “Mama June has listened to all of our opinions and weighed them. She’s made her decision.” He looked directly at his aunt. “I’m sure if she wants you to know something more, she’ll contact you.”
Mama June felt a tightness in her stomach as Morgan’s defense became offense. She glanced quickly at Adele. Her jaw worked at what she certainly viewed as impudence. Adele Blakely was not accustomed to such treatment and Mama June knew she’d hear no end of it.
“Well, I know when I’ve been asked to leave,” Adele said, springing to her feet.
“Adele, don’t go,” implored Mama June. Adele often felt pique and walked off in a huff, expecting others to make amends.
“I can’t say that I’m happy with this decision, but you obviously don’t want my opinion.” She shot a glance at Hank.
Hank rose and gave the let’s-go look to Nan. She promptly followed suit. Adele walked swiftly out, followed closely by Hank. Nan shrugged helplessly then followed her husband from the room. Mama June heard her calling up the stairs for the boys to hurry up, they were leaving.
Mama June sighed and pulled herself from her chair.
“Let them go, Mama,” Morgan said.
She was sorely tempted. She’d worked tirelessly for days to prepare this dinner and felt utterly spent. A mountain of dishes awaited her in the kitchen. She didn’t care at that moment if Adele agreed with her decision or not, nor whether she stormed off, not to be heard from for months, as she’d done in the past. Nonetheless, her upbringing dragged her to her feet.
“It goes against my grain to let a guest, much less my sister-in-law, leave my home upset.”
So she hurried after her, her heels clicking loudly on the polished hardwood floors. Nan was already at her car having a heated exchange with Hank. On the porch, Mama June placed her hand on Adele’s sleeve, arresting her hasty departure.
“Let’s not argue,” she said to Adele.
“I’m very upset.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But, dear, we need to come together now. For Preston’s sake. He needs us all.”
In a spontaneous rush, Adele stepped forward to hug her, tight and fierce. Mama June was swept back to long ago when they were best friends.
Adele pulled back and urged her with her dark eyes blazing, “Think again, Mary June. Before it’s too late.”
Then Adele released her and walked swiftly down the stairs to her car. Blackjack barked madly from his den beneath the porch.
Mama June heard the screen door slam behind her and felt her son’s arm slide around her shoulder. She sighed and leaned into him, relishing his kiss upon the top of her head.
They watched until Adele’s sleek Jaguar, followed by Nan’s Lexus, disappeared down the drive, then stood side by side for several minutes longer. Each relished the peace of the family’s departure. Each was going over in their mind the comments that had been made, dissecting the words and analyzing the intent.
“This storm will blow over,” he said to her.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she replied, though she didn’t really feel so. Old scabs had been reopened that would take time to heal. “Perhaps I put too much store in all going well today. I so wanted their cooperation.”
“And you’ll have it. They just had to blow off steam.”
“I’m not so certain. Adele can be rigid, and Nan’s a dear but she follows Hank’s lead.”
“She’s a sweet kid, but she has no backbone.”
Mama June didn’t respond, fearing that the same might have been said about herself over the years.
“Adele pinched the cup, you know,” Morgan said with amusement in his voice.
“What? The porridge cup?”
He nodded, his lips twisted in disgust.
Mama June shook her head. “It was hers, anyway.”
“You’re not going to say anything?”
“No, let it go. I offered it to her, after all. Besides, it’s not the first thing she’s pinched, as you call it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“It’s never something of great value, at least monetarily. But over the years I’ve noticed a photograph missing, or a piece of family silver, or a painting from her old bedroom. All things that I’m sure she’s rationalized belong to her. For whatever reasons, she needs them. I’ve found it best just not to say anything.”
Movement caught her attention, and turning her head, she saw a thick-set woman in a blue floral dress and a purple slicker coming up the sidewalk from around back.
“Nona!” she called out with a quick wave.
Nona’s face rose toward the stairs and broke into a quick grin. “’Afternoon, Mary June.”
“Nona!”
